"DER LILA DOMINO (The Lilac Domino) is an operetta in three acts by Charles Cuvillier. The original German libretto is by Emmerich von Gatti and Béla Jenbach, about a gambling count who falls in love at a masquerade ball with a noblewoman wearing a lilac domino mask. The operetta achieved far greater popularity in Britain and America than it did in Germany or France.

DER LILA DOMINO was first performed in Leipzig, Germany, on 3 February, 1912, where it was a failure. Although produced with success in the U.S. (1914) and outstanding success in the UK (1918), the work was not seen in France until 1947, when a production was mounted at Mulhouse, with a cast including Willy Clément.

Entitled THE LILAC DOMINO, with an English libretto by Harry B. Smith, lyrics by Robert B. Smith, and additional songs by Howard Carr and Donovan Parsons, it opened on Broadway at the 44th Street Theatre on 28 October, 1914, produced by Andreas Dippel. It received favourable notices and ran for 109 performances, starring Eleanor Painter and the English baritone Wilfrid Douthitt, followed by a North American tour. In the U.S. and UK versions, the setting was changed from Nice, France to Palm Beach, Florida.

A new version was presented in London, with revised dialogue by S. J. Adair Fitzgerald, opening at the Empire Theatre on 21 February, 1918, and running there until 27 September, 1919. After a brief break, the production transferred to the Palace Theatre in October 1919. The piece ran for a total of 747 performances, closing on 13 December, 1919, an extraordinarily long run at that time. The London cast starred Clara Butterworth and Jamieson Dodds. It became the third of London's great World War I hits after CHU CHIN CHOW (1916) and THE MAID OF THE MOUNTAINS (1917). Some of its success in London was due to interpolated numbers by the Empire Theatre's musical director, Howard Carr, a nephew of the composer Howard Talbot. One newspaper review commented, 'The music throughout is beautiful and even if the whole company were to dispense with costumes and sit in a ring like Christy Minstrels, THE LILAC DOMINO would be a success'. To which the humorous magazine PUNCH responded, 'We can well believe it'.

THE LILAC DOMINO remained in the British musical theatre repertoire until after World War II, also touring in Britain, Australia and elsewhere. Jamieson Dodds, from the London cast, led the first Australian tour in 1920."

- Wikipedia

"[THE LILAC DOMINO's] London production [featured] Clara Butterworth and Jamieson Dodds [as] the young lovers. It was a decided novelty for the Empire, a house generally associated with variety and revue, and this operetta attraction had an opening matinée instead of an opening night, thanks to air raids."

- Richard Traubner, OPERETTA, A THEATRICAL HISTORY, pp.304-05

"Stuart Pigott, who played the role of the heroine's millionaire father, died suddenly in his dressing room, during the run, having not missed a single performance of the first 565."

- THE TIMES, 8 March, 1919

“A gentleman farmer with a love of Edwardian and early Twentieth Century music has created a home industry of preserving early Musical and Revue scores as recorded on 78 and cylinder, the latter of which he is certainly a specialist. It is an impressive list of shows that Dominic Combe has digitalised and issued on Compact Disc. Not only is it the recordings but the lovingly created books that attach.

Early theatre recordings abound in Great Britain, more so than in the United States where it took them some time to start recording original cast material. And so, many early scores are available to be heard. But what Dominic discovered when he started assembling these scores was that often latter day British 78 and cylinder record collectors turned their noses up on recordings of dance music or covers and ‘best of’ or ‘gems’ making them hard to find. And, it is those recordings which can often contain songs not otherwise recorded. He has built strong connections with other collectors willing to lend material to make each issue as complete as possible.

Modern equipment and an aptitude for perfection have helped Dominic ‘clean up’ old 78 and cylinder records to deliver a sound quality that can be stunning. The booklets are produced with as much care by using original theatre programmes or magazines such as PLAY PICTORIAL and MUSIC FOR ALL so that the listener can get a good idea of how the show looked as well as to see the unique art work used to advertise the show back then.

Dominic has issued over fifty of these gems and still has titles either being completed or awaiting to be started on. The label is called PALAEOPHONICS.”